Better or Worse
by Msz Thang
Summary: After living an uneventful childhood, basketball manager Toneriko is determined to make his adolescence exciting by winning over Tekirai, captain of the school's popular basketball team, in the battle of friendship. But what happens when his feelings of something more complicate matters? TekiraixToneriko. AU. multi-chapter. Maybe rated M in later chapters. Lemons? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Better or Worse **

**Summary: After living a uneventful childhood, basketball manager Toneriko is determined to make his adolescence exciting by winning over Terkirai, captain of the school's popular basketball team, in the battle of friendship. But what happens when his feelings of something more complicate matters? TekiraixToneriko. AU. multi-chapter. Maybe rated M in later chapters. Lemons? Read to find out.**

**Second ongoing fanfic. =] Please review! Thanksssssss**

* * *

"Riko, hurry!" My blonde friend Mizuto shouted at me as I heaved a bag full of water bottles over my shoulder and sprinted out onto the court. Mizuto's arms were full of icy cold bottle as well, and he ran out in front of me to pass one to the loudest and rudest person in the whole entire school, Sakura, who is always picking on me.

The basketball team stood there waiting for me before the game started. I threw the bag down, and Mizuto and I quickly began to distribute the bottles we had filled up not too long ago. Seeing the bottles quickly emptied by thirsty basketball players almost made my stomach drop. We had spent a good hour filling up two bottles per player from the leaky water foundation in the locker rooms. We would practically spend the entire game refilling them, running back and forth like we usually do. We don't really complain either; as the co-managers, we signed up for this. well, I didn't REALLY sign up for this; Mizuto had forced me to.

* * *

"Oh, Riko, please! I can't do this alone! They're all so scary and big, and that Sakura guy is going to pick on me," He whined as we both walked into our Freshman honors english classroom.

"Than why do you want to be manager of the varitsy basketball so badly? What about JV?" I asked, throwing my book bag onto the ground next to my seat and leaning against the windowsill next to me. Mizuto sat down next to me in his usually chair and placed his bag gently on the desk.

"Because we'll make friends with the most popular people in this school!"

"I don't want to be friends with those guys," I retorted, and Mizuto snorted.

"Yeah, right," He muttered sarcastically.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, nudging him in the rib with my foot. He swatted away my foot with a grin.

"Don't tell me you're not crushing on Tekirai; I see you staring at him in the cafetria, and you're always on cloud nine whenever you come back from multivariable calculus."

I silently glared at him for a minute, regretting that my feelings had been so obvious.

"What does he have to do with this conversation?"

"You know he is on the same basketball team!" Mizuto almost shouted and I hushed him, grabbing his wrist and shaking him so he would shut up. Damn, he is always so loud when he is excited. I swear one day he is going to say something in front of the one person I begged him to keep quiet around. He pouted after I was done shaking him; I let go of him and started unpacking my english supplies out of my bag silently. Mizuto continued to stare at me.

"No."

"Please?!"

"No!"

"You owe me!" He reminded me. I sighed. He has been tutoring me in math. You see, Mizuot is sort of a math and science prodigy. Well, not sort of. More like REALLY a prodigy. The only reason I'm in such a high math course is because my foster dad is a nutcase when it comes to education. He forces me to take all competitive courses in order to get into the best university. He made me take math courses at the local community college every summer since I was in the 5th grade to get me into BC calculus, which is usually a 12-grade-level couse, by the 8th grade when he found out that my standardized test scores in math were dismal. Now I'm stuck in this super difficult math course with seniors who don't give a rat's ass that I'm practically failing out.

To make my embarrassment worse, Tekirai, one of the smartest and most talented students in the entire school, is in that class, seated approximately 2 rows directly in front of me where I can stare at the back of his head for 45 minutes and pretend that I know what is going on around me. I sit in the far back of the room so the teacher never calls on me and my classmates ignore my existence. Mizuto, on the other hand, dreams in mathematics. He can just decipher any formula or expression without blinking. He truly as a gift.. a gift I've been mooching off since we met in middle school. He placed out of math, taking classes at the local university under the tutelage of some fancy mathematician; The same is the case in science with him. The newspaper even ran a story on how he may be the next Newtown, Einstein, or whoever.

"Fine!" I finally relented, and Mizuto almost shot out of his seat if I had not grabbed onto his wrist again and pulled him back down to earth.

"We are going to have so much fun, Riko!"

I rolled my eyes and smiled at his enthusiasm, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into.

* * *

That was 2 weeks ago, and I've been dying to kill him ever since then. We contacted the captains... well Mizuto did because I couldn't bring myself to approach Tekirai and Mizuto's older brother, and since no one except some horny schoolgirls wanted the position, we got the titles without any problems. Sometimes I think we only got it because Mizuto's brother, Aralag, is the other co-captain, but I would never say that to Mizuto himself since he hates the implication that he is riding Aralag's coattails. The draw backs? Well there are plenty:

1. practice before school everyday at 6:45am

2. most practice after school everyday at 3:45pm

3. games on wednesdays from 3pm-whenever that shit wants to end, and saturdays from 9am-whenever that shits wants to end too.

4. dying every day from exhaustion/embarrassment from 7am-7pm

4. making a fool of myself in front of Tekirai whenever he is around me

Need I say more?

"Can't carry a few bottles, Puppy?" Sakura, one of the main players, teased, snatching four water bottles out of my frail arms. I flinched as he did it, worried he'd try to wrestle with me again. Sakura is around my height, which caused me to question how he made it on the varsity team last week. He proceeded to shove my head into one of the urinals, yelling something about stupid questions. I haven't talked to him since.

"Sakura," Tekirai called, and Sakura jogged over to the rest of the team as they huddles around Aralag, who gave them the game plan. Today they'd been playing a really good team, and the tension to remain undefeated hung in the air. I stood still, watching as Tekirai gestured around as Aralag talked. They were a power team, kinda like how Mizuto and I are a loser team.

"Hey, I'm not a loser!" Mizuto pouted, smacking my arm. Was I thinking aloud? Damnit, I need to curve that habit.

"At managing you are," I shot back, collecting the now empty water bottles off the court floors. These damn basketball stars never clean up after themselves. After 2 weeks of this, I'm beginning to reach end's wit.

"Well you're not so perfect yourself, Mr. The square root of 144 is 11!" He retorted, and I rolled my eyes.

"You're going to need to work on your insults."

"And you're going to need to work on your rebounds, Puppy!"

I glared at him violently and he shut up, bending over to retrieve the empty bottles with me. Mizuto loves to make fun of my aspirations to one day play basketball with everyone else. My height and weight did not permit it, seeing as I'd be thrown around the court like a rag doll if I tried, but those limitations will never deter me. Call me stubborn, but when the team runs off to the locker room after each practice, I stay behind and shot a couple of hoops before I go to clean up after them. Yeah, I'm always late to my first period class, but my teacher could give two craps. I love the feeling of the ball rolling off my finger tips as I make a shot, the sound of the ball dribbling agains the court, and the sound of feet shuffling up and down the court. Basketball is my first love.

"Don't call me that!"

Mizuto hmph'd and walked over to the benches with about 6 empty bottles in his hands, leaving me to collect the 30+ left on the ground. I quickly shoved them all into the bottle-bag and jogged over to the manager's bench with him. He stood to walk with me to the locker rooms to refill the, but I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. He looked down, confusingly, and I peered up at him pleadingly.

"Let's watch for a couple of minutes, okay?" I asked, and the score keeper buzzed, signaling the start of the first game of the season. Mizuto sighed and collapsed back down next to me. We watched silently for a few minutes, enjoying the lead our team was gaining on the opposing team. A sense of accomplishment swelled up in my chest as I watched, knowing I played a head in their success even if it was as insignificant as fetching water, scheduling, and cleaning after the team. Tekirai made a pass to Aralag, who shot a basket; Mizuto stood up and cheered.

"Yeah, that's my brother!" Aralag, having heard him, shot him a wink and jogged down the court with Tekirai patting him on the back. His crimson eyes twinkled at the other boy, and for some reason, I wanted to kick Aralag in the shin for being such a good basketball player.

I was so caught up in the moment that my hold on the bag of bottles loosened, and I didn't notice that one of the bottles had rolled out onto the court until Sakura had stepped on it and fell face forward on the newly swept court. _Oh, no._

* * *

At the end of the game, we won 82-76 with Sakura sitting on the bench next to Mizuto. I was practically crapping in my pants the whole time. Whenever the opposing team would make a point, Sakura jumped to his feet and screamed some profanities as he held an ice pack to his forehead and would sit down and dare at me as if I killed his cat... or caused him to miss out on the first game of the year and made him look like an idiot in front of the whole school. After the buzzer signaled the end, the two teams formed lines and high-fived each other before the home team headed off to the locker room to clean up. I lingered behind, cleaning up all the towels I could because I did not want to face Sakura in the locker room and possibly have to lick a urinal again.

When I finally entered the room about 15 minutes after everyone else did, I was immediately thrown against the wall and lifted off my feet.

"You wanna go at it, Pup? You tryna ruin me, you little mutt?!" Sakura yelled, and I flinched.

"Sakura, it was an accident; we won anyway!" Aralag said, laughing at the shorter's boy's proud antics. I could see Mizuto from the side of my eyes with a bag full of dirty towels, eyeing the situation wearily. Sakura held up his fist to hit me but paused as a shadow loomed over us both. I looked up and was greeted by piercing crimson eyes. My breathe caught up in my throat and Sakura froze.

"Sakura," He said firmly, and I could feel the grip on my shirt already loosen. "Let's go."

Sakura turned to me, lowering his fist furiously as if someone just snatched away his first meal in months.

"You're lucky this time, Pup," He whispered, and stepped back as I collapsed to the floor. "But next time, I doubt it-"

"Sakura," The same stern tone repeated, and Sakura followed the voice out of the locker room with the rest of the team, leaving Mizuto and me, stunned.

"Did he just-"

"Shut up, Mizuto. Don't get my hopes up." I said, picking myself off of the floor and dusting my pants off as if anything were on it. I had to occupy myself from the embrassment I felt. I couldn't shake the feeling that this incident wouldn't be my last.

* * *

We strolled down the hall, again; this time after first period english. I pulled my schedule out of my pocket and reread it:

1st period: Freshman honors English

2nd period: Multivariable Calculus

3rd period: Freshman honors Physics (double period)

4th period: (double period)

5th period: Lunch

6th period: Accelerated Spanish 2/3

7th period: Honors World History

8th period: Introduction to Pottery/Sculpture

I also read Mizuto's schedule and noted the similarities: we had 1st period and 7th period together, but that was it. I sighed; we intentionally signed up for all the same classes, minus math and science. He read over mine and snorted:

"Don't expect us to have every class together, Riko; this is a huge school! There are probably 6 sections of the one class... why are you taking an arts elective anyway? You could have a free period!"

"And do what? Fiddle with my fingers in the library?" I sarcastically asked, stopping in front of my math classroom. Mizuto shot me a dirty look before replying.

"No, you could be getting tutored in math during the day instead of over the phone at night."

"Oh.. you're right!"

"You idiot," Mizuto laughed and continued walking to his next class. "See ya!"

"See you lat-"

I choked as a familiar scent coconut filled the air around me. _Shit, shit, shit._ I dashed into the classroom with my head down and made my way to the back. A steady beat of foot steps followed me back and stopped as I passed the third to last row where _he_ sat. I turned on my heel and sat down in my chair and looked up at him. He was settling into his seat, and unpacking his supplies for class. His black hair sat on his collar on the same leather jacket he wore almost everyday. But today he wore a pair of red checkered sneakers and black pants; Tekirai always dressed to the T, like a-

"Toneriko!" My teacher appeared in front of my desk, ruler and pencil in hand.

"Huh?" I looked up to see everyone staring at me like I had two heads.

"You're being called to the principal's office." She repeated, and I nodded, swinging my book bag over my shoulder as I stood up and walked out of the classroom, passing by the only person who was still doing his work silently. For some reason or another, I was always being called to the principal's office. I'm surprised everyone in the school doesn't already know my name.

* * *

Oh and did I mention that my foster dad is the damn principal?

"Toneriko-kun," He said, as I closed the door behind me, "How are you doing?"

"What the fuck, Ageha? Why am I hear?"

"We're having pasta tonight."

"Is that why I'm here?! I was in math class."

"It's not like you ever pay attention in math class," He chuckled, and I pouted.

"Well can I go back to pretending to pay attention?"

"I want to know why you're taking silly arts electives when you could be taking another math or science course." His expression turned semi-serious for a moment before smiling again.

"I already told you why: I'm not a genius like Mizuto. I hate school!"

"Oh, Toneriko, high school is so different from middle school. I'm sure if you just-"

"Can I PLEASE go back to class? I don't want to hear another one of your lectures, Ageha-sama."

"Fine, just remember that I have a local conference to attend tonight so I can't pick you up from practice," His volume started normally than increased as I walked out of his office. Hmph. Thanks, dad.

* * *

**Mkay, hope ya'll liked the first chapter; this was so fun to write, and I hope just as fun to read. =D**


	2. Chapter 2

_Swoosh!_

The ball naturally rolled off my fingertips and fell through the net. I grinned to myself and ran over to get the ball. I retrieved it off the ground and dribbled around in circles. I bounced it between my legs and turned quickly to shot it again.

_Swoosh!_

Damn, I'm good.

I ignored the patter of feet entering the room; I knew exactly who it was without taking my eyes off the ball.

"Riko, let's go!" Mizuto whined, overworked from the particularly grueling practice today. I sighed, dribbling the ball around my body again and shooting it through the hoop perfectly. He looked like the living dead, since Sakura spent most of the practice sending him back and forth from the court and the locker room to refill his three water bottles. I tried as best as I could to help him, but I had the rest of the team to take care of and a few more games to schedule. I was relieved that the mean junior's attention was not on me for a change.

"Do we have to right now?" I whined in return, running over to the ball again and tossing it up in the air. Mizuto's feet impatiently tapped again the court floors as he leaned against a railing on the bleachers as he watched me shoot some more baskets for a few moments. This was our after-practice routine: me shooting baskets while Mizuto watched quietly, sometimes doing homework or teasing me whenever I missed. Lately I haven't been missing so it has been quite silent.

"Yes," he finally replied, "I asked my brother to drop you off after practice, but if you keep him waiting, he'll leave both of us!"

At that announcement, I grabbed the ball and jogged over to Mizuto. I grinned at him and he rolled his eyes, picking his book bag off of the ground and walking next to me as I threw the ball into the ball bag next to the exit and left the building with him. I swooped my bag off the ground in the hallway and opened the door for him. He smiled at me and walked through but froze before I could make my way outside.

"Mizuto?"

I heard a voice say something and a group of boys laughing hysterically. I glanced over my best friend's shoulder towards the parking lot where a few key member of the team were standing between Aralag and Tekirai's cars hanging out. Sakura was in the middle cracking a bunch of crude jokes while the taller boys around him laughed. I looked over at Tekirai leaning against his car calmly eyeing the moon above his head, uninterested in the conversation. I sighed as a breeze blew through the parking lot, carrying some of his shoulder length tresses up and near his crimson eyes. Without running a hand through them, they slowly relaxed and returned to their exact locations. His cool aura was effortless, and I felt a stirring in my stomach.

"So we gonna get some dinner at that new Italian place now?" Sakura asked, nudging Aralag, and the tall blonde laughed and nodded. At that interaction, Mizuto sprang back to life, grappling onto my wrist and dragging me over of the group of upperclassmen. Before I could protest, he pushed his way through the group and stopped right in front of his elder brother, who looked down at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Seriously, Aralag? I have tons of homework tonight!" Mizuto hissed at his older brother. I glanced between them, feeling the rays of dislike emanating from my best friend; Aralag, on the other hand, was as calm as a dead pond at night. He stood up from sitting on the hood of his car and patted Mizuto on the shoulder playfully.

"It's only for a couple of hours, Bro; then I'll take Riko home," He replied, and I was taken aback by his using my nickname. When did he ever learn my name let alone my existence? Mizuto pouted at him, but relented as the group dispersed to their respective vehicles. I felt Tekirai's black two-seater Porsche roar to life behind me and I shivered, thinking that he was standing that close to me moments before. I wonder if he knows my name too.

"Fine, but you're paying for me."

Aralag chuckled at him and ruffled his hair before getting into his car. Mizuto fixed his hair back the way it was and hopped into the front passenger side while I got into the back behind him. I was about to throw my bag in the seat next to me when a growl stopped my action. Sakura lounged on the other side of the car, glaring at me.

"Watch where you throw your shit, Pup, before I break your neck."

"Sakura," Aralag's warning tone caught me off guard as he looked at his teammate in the rear view mirror. "Why don't you ride with Tekirai?"

Sakura smacked his lips and sighed exasperatedly. "He is in one of his lil moods."

Aralag's eyes widened, the narrowed again; he nodded knowingly and started up his car. He pulled out of his usual parking space and began to drive slowly towards the restaurant on the other side of town. I eyed the back of Mizuto and Aralag's heads, wondering what that was about.

"What mood is he in?"

"Huh?" Mizuto asked, turning down the raido he had turned on after everyone fell silent.

"What mood is Tekirai in?" I repeated, and Sakura snorted. The way his name sounded flowing off my tongue was just so awe-inspiring that I relished in the excuse to say it.

"And you care because?" He asked, and I felt myself getting impatient. Shit, now I have to pretend that I'm not interested.

"Because I'd rather not smell your funk in such close quarters."

"Oh, you litt-"

"Sakura, shut. up."

"But this little brat-"

Aralag growled at him, and he did indeed shut up. I stared wide-eyed at Aralag for a moment before turning to look out the window. I can fight my own battles... Maybe he is just tired from today's practice and didn't want to deal with Sakura's usual yelling. Mizuto shrugged at the whole interaction and turned up the radio again to some arbitrary station. I relaxed into my seat and watched as the suburban houses transformed into multi-family homes and apartment buildings. We were definitely closer to the city center and away from my sheltered life in the outskirts of town. Following his best friend's car, Aralag pulled into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant and found a parking spot near the front. We all jumped out of the car unceremoniously and made our way into the restaurant. The rest of the team was already seated at multiple tables while the other co-captain waited for us on the bench next to the hostess' podium. Aralag smiled at him.

"Waiting for us, Tekirai?" He asked the man, and he shrugged... Silence. I tried my best to not stare at him as he tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and stood up in front of us like a god. I'm failing terribly.

"Table for five?" The hostess appeared next to me, and I jumped back like a little girl in a scary movie. Everyone chuckled at me, and Sakura almost fell over in laughter. I glared at them, feeling my face warm in embarrassment.

"Yes, please!" Mizuto politely said, and she smiled, grabbing five menus and telling us to follow her. We walked past the other players and ended up at a corner table with two booths. Aralag instructed the three smallest people, Sakura, Mizuto, and me, to sit together on one side while he and his best friend occupy the opposite side. Sakura protested but there wasn't much he could do. He sat down dejectedly at the end while I slid in first and Mizuto sat between us, not too thrilled to be sitting next to his tormentor, I noted. That's what he gets for dragging me along to this dinner anyway. I would've been perfectly happy walking home by myself-

"Sorry," I muttered, moving my legs to the side as Tekirai slid in opposite of me, and our legs brushed against each other. I tried my best to mask my shivers as a result of the blasting air conditioner and not of his close proximity. His eyes did not look up at me once during the interaction, his midnight black bangs hung before his eyes like always and his signature leather jacket was shrugged from broad shoulders. Mizuto nudged me to stop from staring.

"Appetizers, anyone?" Aralag cheerily suggested, and Sakura grumbled in agreement. I nodded, and Tekirai stared at his menu, expressionless. Mizuto quickly scanned the menu and started ordering:

"May we have..."

* * *

"What are you going to get?" Mizuto whispered to me behind his menu. I leaned over to him, hiding behind my menus as well, and said that I wasn't ordering. His eye brow raised.

"Why not?" He inquired, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Because I don't have alotta cash on me; I wasn't exactly anticipating going out for dinner with the team, ya know!"

He pouted, and said, "Why don't you ask Tekirai to spot you?"

I almost gasped had his devious smile not tipped me off to his intentions before he even voiced them. I pinched him, and he gasped aloud. At the commotion, Sakura peered over at us and scowled.

"What are you two twats doing? Making out?"

His jeering tone didn't not sit well with the co-captains, who both placed their menus down on the table in front of them. Aralag's face almost exploded in red as he witnessed his brother being bullied; Tekirai just narrowly eyed the red-head. He felt the eyes on him and coughed into his hands.

"Not that there is anything wrong with that," He said, snickering, and I almost jumped over Mizuto to strangle him.

"We were not!"

"Why so defensive, Pup? Don't want people to know 'bout you and your boyfriend?"

"We're _friends_, Sakura. Do you understand what that means or has your lack of _friends_ caused you to be an incompetent prick when it comes to _friend_ships?" I retorted quickly, and Mizuto's face faded into a deep red as he tried to keep himself from laughing aloud. Sakura glared at me, and I felt a another pair of eyes on me. I tentatively picked up my menu again and pretended to read, blocking on view Tekirai could have of my reddening face. Before Sakura could come up with what I'm sure would've been a witty response, the waiter returned with the appetizers. As he unloaded the platter off his shoulder and onto the table, my stomach growled. I guess I'm a lot more hungry than I thought I was.

"So are we ready to order?"

Everyone ordered something, and when it was my turn, I shook my head.

"I'm all set; thank you." The waiter began to walk away when Mizuto stopped him.

"C'mon, Riko!" Mizuto whined, and I nudged him to shut him up.

"Not hungry, Riko?" Sakura purred, and I rolled my eyes. I'm definitely going to get it at practice tomorrow; whenever he sounds subdued, he is actually formulating an evil plot in his head to get back at me.

"I told you to ask someone to spot you!"

"Mizuto!" I hissed, annoyed that he actually revealed my dilemma aloud. What are friends for now-a-days if not to tell the whole world each other's secrets?

"Don't worry; we'll split your portion among the four of us. You can pay us back tomo-" Aralag offered.

"WE? I'm not paying for that brat-" Sakura was interrupted by a baritone voice.

"I'll do it."

The whole table silenced itself when Tekirai spoke for the first time all evening. Mizuto and I stared at him in shock; Aralag and Sakura shrugged casually. Tekirai's eyes flickered over towards me for a nanosecond, and then he was staring off somewhere else, peering over the booth and outside the window. I finally released a breathe when his gaze landed somewhere else. I felt Mizuto elbow nudge me suggestively, but I ignored it.

After our meals arrived, we ate mostly in silence; Aralag would bring up a subject and Mizuto and Sakura would response in their own unique ways. Tekirai would reply with his signature "Mhm." But I couldn't bring myself to speak. He was paying for me... It almost felt like a date. My thoughts were interrupted by Mizuto almost shouting in my ear.

"Riko? Rikoooooo!"

"Huh?"

"I said do you want dessert? We're ordering a huge sundae." Mizuto enthusiastically told me, and I smiled half-heartedly at him.

"Sure."

"I'll have that right out!" The waiter announced, spinning around on his heel and sashaying away. Sakura slouched over the table, leaning his elbows on it.

"He is such a fruit," He said as we all sat there in silence once more. Aralag laughed aloud.

"Well isn't your gaydar working today?" He asked Sakura while nudging Tekirai in the side. The silent boy turned towards his friend and smirked. I almost died seeing his lips curl up at once side and his eyes' glint.

"It's always working!" Sakura replied, seeming offended. Mizuto and I looked at each other with confused expressions on our faces. Mizuto shifted uncomfortably in his seat with a blank look on his face.

"Sometimes you have your moments.. Makes me question your heterosexuality," Aralag teased, and I waited for Sakura to explode at him. On the contrary, Sakura laughed along with him.

"Oh, don't make me puke."

"What? Never wanted to try vagina?" Aralag continued. Sakura's face fell, and my jaw couldn't have been picked up off the floor for the life of me when he replied:

"Oh god, no! I have better sense than that!" He nodded his head towards the person sitting in front of me. "Don't I, Oh perfect one?"

"Mhm." Tekirai hummed and glanced out the window again. What the hell is going on?

"Here ya go!" The waiter returned with the largest ice cream sundae I have ever seen in my life. I gasped as he place it down in the middle of the table with the chocolate side facing me; my mouth watered like a faucet. I absolutely love ice cream, and it is the perfect distraction from this weird conversation. I quickly grabbed a spoon and dug it. I occasionally looked up to see Tekirai eating some of the ice cream along with us, devouring the vanilla in the middle. I guess that is his favorite flavor.

As I was scooping some chocolate into my mouth, I glanced up to see him putting a spoon of ice cream in between his thin lips. the spoon went perfectly into his mouth, leaving no trace of ice cream on his face. I blushed, realizing that my own face was probably covered in all flavors of ice cream in front of us. As I frantically looked for napkin, one appeared in front of my face, attached to long, pale fingers. I muttered thanks to him and quickly wiped my mouth with it, rubbing just under my nose slowly so I could savor the smell of leaves and coconut.

* * *

I collapsed into my spot in the back of Aralag's car and sighed. That was a great meal but confusing dinner overall. Was that a coming moment or what? I made a note mentally to question Mizuto out it tomorrow in school. I quickly buckled myself in as Sakura eyed me. I looked at him annoyingly, having gained some confidence over the course of dinner. We weren't in the locker room or on the started to lean towards me, causing me to push myself against the car door beside me.

"See ya tomorrow, Tekirai!" Aralag called out of his window, and I quickly glanced out my window to see the mysterious boy's car back out of the parking spot and drive towards the horizon. I could feel Sakura's breathe on my cheek as I turned back around to face him. He was so close that my eyes became unfocused on his face, his eyes blurring into one.

"My gaydar goes bananas 'round you, Pup."

"Excuse me?"

"My gaydar always works," He whispered, and I froze. "And it is going bonkers right now."

I knew Aralag and Mizuto pretended not to listen to the conversation as my best friend turned up the radio to drown out Sakura's evil chuckles.


	3. Chapter 3

"Toneriko," My teacher said sternly. I cringed and looked up at her from my doodling.

"Can you answer the question?"

"What question?" I asked, softly, and she glared at me.

"The one I just posed to the class about last night's homework!" She explained, "You did do the homework, correct?"

I gulped loudly, and some of my jerk-off classmates began to giggle at me. I felt my fist clench around my pencil.

"Well.. uh.. it was kinda difficult.. I'm not sure I understand-"

"If you're not going to put the effort into this advanced class or maybe if it is too difficult for you, maybe I should talk to the principal about transferring you over into a lower level course!" She said curtly, and my stomach dropped. If Ageha heard about this, I'd never hear the end of it. all eh would say is how disappointed he is and force me to take another summer course. "Can anyone else answer the question?"

"No, I just-"

"The answer is root 5 over 16," A rich deep voice cut me off and said. Both my teacher and I shuddered at the sound that we rarely heard.

"Good, Tekirai-kun. Maybe you should help Toneriko for the rest of the class while I go over the homework. He seems to need some guidance."

I rolled my eyes at her back-handed insult and stiffened at Tekirai rose form his seat. Everyone in the class stopped what they were doing-from fooling around to actually doing the classwork-and watched as he walked towards me and sat down at the desk next to me. My teacher nodded to him and glared at me before walking back to the front of the class and lecturing on the unit. I stuck my tongue out at the back of my head and turned back to the worksheet in front of me. I looked over at my clenched fist and realized I broke my pencil in half.

"Shit," I said lowly to myself and glanced over at Tekirai quietly doing his work. I reached down to my book bag in between our desks and grabbed my pencil case. Getting another pencil out of the case, I dropped it back in my bag and went to work again... or pretended to as I inhaled deeply, relishing the scent of autumn and the tropics.

"You're writing in pen," Tekirai said, and I jumped a bit. I looked over at him and he gestured to my hand which held a blue pen instead of a pencil. I felt my cheeks redden and I cursed again under my breathe.

"Oh, yeah," I said, reaching down into my bag again.

"Here," he said, tossing his pencil onto my desk and retrieving another form his jacket pocket. I stared at it for a moment before picking it up and using it. The sides of the pencil were still warm from his using it, and I smiled to myself. He is letting me us his pencil! I can't wait to tell Mizuto about this.

"Tell who what, frosh?" Another classmate sitting to my left asked, leaning over to me. I gasped. Damnit. I need to stop thinking aloud.

"Nothing. Mind ya own!"

The classmate stared at me for a second before glancing at Tekirai and looking away. I sighed. Nice, Toneriko, make a complete fool out of yourself in front of him! What next? Are you going to try to juggle?

"You're doing it all wrong," I heard a voice to my right say and I jumped at the proximity of the sound. I looked at Tekirai as he sat in his seat, hunched over his worksheet. He casually held out his pencil and pointed to my sheet. My heart pounded.

"Well.. uh.. I am?" I asked, incredulous and embarrassed. He must think I'm an idiot. He sighed and leaned over to my desk, explaining the word problem as if he learned it in the second grade. I felt my muscles tightened as his proximity to me grew closer and closer. The smell of autumn and the tropics leaving me light headed and euphoric.

"Now you do it," He said, breaking me out of my brief reverie. He drew away and continued on his sheet.

"Um.. yeah," I muttered, and started working on it.

"Thanks," I whispered, and I could've sworn he nodded his head in acknowledgement.

After a few minutes of silent working, Tekirai swung his book bag over his shoulder and stood from his seat. He grabbed his sheet and walked over to the teacher's desk quietly. Despite his silence, the whole class watched in awe as he placed the sheet down on the teacher's desk. Complete. She asked him if he actually finished everything in such a short time. He nodded, and she dismissed him. As he headed for the door, I stared with my mourh slightly hanging open. Why is he so perfect?

* * *

I was staring at him from across the cafeteria. I was sitting in the freshmen area while he sat in the senior section, slowly chewing on a sandwich while some basketball player made an absurd gesture and caused his whole table to laugh. Sakura was sitting next to him, picking apart a piece of fried chicken. Game day; the whole team always sits together on a game day and gets the whole room rowdy. The corner of his lip perked up into a smirk at the joke, and I knew that I had to do something. Do something before I exploded.

"Riko!" Mizuto said, nudging me in the arm. He was eating his signature PB&J sandwich opposite of me. He traced my line of vision and chuckled. "You are so obvious. It's cute."

"Shut up!" I hissed, never tearing my eyes away as Tekirai picked up his water bottle and took a swig.

"Hmph!" Mizuto pouted. I sighed, finally looking down at my untouched plate. What if I went over there?

"And do what?" Mizuto asked, and I cursed myself for thinking aloud again.

"I don't know.. say hi?"

"And what else, Riko?"

"Um.. the weather... math.."

"Basically you have nothing to go over there for except to confess your undying lust."

I gasped at his statement.

"I am not in lust with him!"

"Mhhhmmmmmmm," he hummed, wiggling the pen in his hand at me and went back to scribbling in his notebook.

An idea popped into my head at that moment. His pencil! I forgot to return his pencil!

"I'll prove it!" His smile dropped.

"Wait, Riko-" I held up my hand over his mouth and stood up, snatching the pencil from inside my open book bag with my other hand. I leaned over closer to him and grinned.

"Watch me," I said confidently.

At first, I was strolling across the cafeteria like I owned the place, but the deeper I went into the upperclassmen area, the more I began to lose faith in the mission. I smacked myself mentally. Get over it, Toneriko! You are just returning his pencil... just returning his pencil... I stopped awkwardly in front of the varisty bscketball table He sat in front of a pole, leaning on it. Aralag sat on his right and Sakura on his left at the very end of the table. As I arrived, the two people sitting in front of him and Sakura left to go to class. Oh, an opening!

"Hi," I said unevenly and cursed myself again for my lack of confidence.

"Look what we have here: a puppy!" Sakura announced, but luckily no one other than the three aforementioned boys looked up at me. The gleam in Tekirai's crimson eyes made me want to die right then and there. Whenever I saw him look my way, I died a bit inside.

I almost growled at Sakura had Aralag not interjected: "Hey, Riko. Where's my little brother?"

"Uh, still eating," I replied, turning around and pointing to the table Mizuto and I occupied. Mizuto was already staring in this direction with his mouth hanging open when I pointed. I quickly gestured him to look the other way and he did. When I turned back around, Aralag had a big grin on his face and Sakura had his eye brow raised suspiciously. What are they thinking?

"So then what brings you to our side of town?"

"I needa return something," I murmured, and Sakura sighed.

"Speak up, Pup-chan! No one can hear your fem ass."

"Will you shut it!" I half yelled and he did, standing up defiantly though. I gulped.

"Sakura-kun," Tekirai's voice rang in my ear. Sakura eyes flickered over to the co-captains and he snatched his book bag from the table.

"See ya'll at practice," He said, waving to the two captains and glaring at me before brushing past me. I sighed, relieved he left. But the relief was short-lived as silence fell once again. This time, however, Aralag engaged himself in another conversation while Tekirai stared at me with his red orbs.

"So... um.. thank you for helping me today in math class."

"You're welcome," He said monotone, still staring of course. I touched my face to see if there was any food stuck on it, but then I remembered that because I was too busy staring at him, I haven't eaten.

"And.. uh.. the pencil-" I said, holding it out between us for him to take. I even stepped closer to the table, and his scent filled my every thought.

"Keep it," He said, unfolding his arms from his chest and taking the last bite of his sandwich.

"Oh no, I have anoth-"

"Keep it. I'll help you in class from now on."

"Huh?" I was incredulous.

He stared, knowing I heard him correctly. I felt like I was spinning on slippery ice. Was he really offering to help me?

"Oh.. um.. thanks, that'd be great."

"Mhm."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So I'll be going now."

"Bye," He said, smirking.

"Adios, friend!" I said awkwardly over my shoulder as I turned and left. GOSH DAMNIT! Why am I such an idiot?! Friend?! Friend?! Did I just firned zone myself?! Why, oh, why! I cursed and cursed mentally while walking back over to my table. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I barely noticed the body standing, one foot on my chair, and leaning over the table talking to Mizuto. I bumped into the person roughly, and my eyes opened like saucers when I realized who it was.

"Pup."

"Jackass," I spat. His eye twitched at each syllable.

"Riko!" Mizuto hissed from his seat. I looked over at his redden cheeks and instantly became confused. The hell was he blushing for? Sakura obviously was bothering him!

"What are you doing?" I asked Sakura, and the red head grinned.

"Wouldn't ya like ta know?" He said, taking his foot off my seat and walking around me in a circle. "I'm watching you, Pup."

He then disappeared into the crowd. I sighed and sat back down. My food was still untouched. I grabbed a fork and began to eat my mashed potatoes. I felt Mizuto's eyes bore into my face, but I didn't look up. As I finished the meatloaf that I had gotten (Stupid choice, I know).

"So how did it go?" He asked, and I continued to eat. I was waiting for him to lose his patience. That's what he deserves for talking to my mortal enemy.

"Rikooooo!"

"..."

"TONERIKO!"

"I don't think you have to tutor me in math anymore," I said, failing at trying to keep myself from smiling. His eyebrows raised.

"Why not? You're failing!"

"Am not!"

"Am too! what was your last test grade?"

"... Not the point. Um.. SOMEONE in my class is helping me from now on."

I laughed aloud as his jaw hit the floor.

* * *

We were down by 20 points in the second half and two of our players already fouled out. I was livid. The first half, we were on fire. Aralag's defense was perfect while Tekirai made three pointers like he was being paid for it. Sakura made all his free throw shots flawlessly, and Mizuto and I barely had to run back and forth to refill any bottles. The game was way too intense, and we had a reputation to up hold. Last year, Tekirai led the team through a perfect season and under him and Aralag, the team's record this year was just as good.

"COME ON!" I shouted when the referee called a foul on Aralag for blocking a flawed lay up. Mizuto clasped his hand on my shoulder and pulled me back down onto the bench.

"Calm down," he whispered, and the whole room quieted down as the opposing team made a free throw point. I growled lowly as he straightened up for the second shot and made it as well.

"How can I calm down when the ref is incompetent?" I said, rolling my eyes and sighing exasperatedly. I had reason to be so riled up. We ended up losing... by a good 30 points.

After the game, I slept over at Mizuto's because Ageha had yet another local conference this week, and I couldn't bear another night alone in our apartment, eating instant ramen for dinner. Aralag prepared some spaghetti for us, and I slept in Mizuto's room. It was sort of like our sleepover days in middle school when Ageha would run off somewhere, and I'd have to spend the night at Mizuto's. Their family never got sick of me so I guess I'm always welcome.

I woke up before Mizuto did and really needed to pee. After stepping over his damn near lifeless body on the ground, I tiptoed my way down the hall to the only bathroom in their house. I slipped in quietly, careufl not to wake anyone up as the bedrooms where all situated near the bathroom. After doing my business, my stomach growled loudly. I stopped washing my hands and stared at my stomach. I guess I can get some cereal and go back to sleep. What time is it anyway? The sun is barely up. I looked at my watch. Gah, 6:07am. Waaaaaay to early for a Saturday morning.

I slipped out of the bathroom once again and made my way to the kitchen, where I heard two voices having a calm conversation. Thinking it was Mizuto's parents, I stepped into the kitcehn with a smile always plastered on my face that screamed :Thank you for having me over. Now can I have some food?" only to be greeted by two sets of much younger eyes. Aralag always jumped when I entered, holding a palm over his chest dramatically.

"Toneriko-kun, whatcha doing up so early?"

I froze as my eyes met red ones that belonged to a certain somone sitting opposite of Arlag at the kitchen island.

"Pee," I replied blankly. Aralag and Tekirai chuckled; I almost died remembering that I was wearing one of my old t-shirts from camp to bed.. pain-stained and torn. My shorts were from middle school so they stopped mid-thigh while the t-shirt ran down to my knees. In my short sttaure, I'm sur eit seemed as if I wore nothing underneath.

"Morning," he greeted me, and I bowed slightly

"G-good morning, Tekirai-sempai," I stuttered, "What are you doing here?"

"Tekirai and I usually go for morning runs on Saturdays before hitting on court," Aralag explained, and for a moment I was so lost in those crimson eyes that I forgot he was even in the room.

"But I was just explaining to this stubborn fool that I sprained my ankle in last night's games so I can't go running with him today."

"You sprained your ankle? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, and Aralag hesitated before replying, eyes flickering everywhere.

"Well.. uh.. you see-"

"He is being lazy," Tekirai said, and Aralag quickly nodded in agreement.. almost too quickly.

"Now poor Rai-chan has no one to run with," He fake pouted, and I froze, feeling the awkwardness drift through the air.

"Oh."

"..."

"..."

My stomach growl loudly, and I quickly covered it with my hands. Aralag laughed aloud while Tekirai casually took a swig form his fancy black water bottle that matched his hair and strangely enough a new jacket he's sporting.. Must be for running and exercise. Aralag went over to the fridge, opened it, and grabbed the milk. He set the milk down and gestured for me to sit... next to his best friend. I slowly walked over to the seat and hopped up as the stool was taller than my butt was. I felt Tekirai watch my every movement. Aralag sat a bowl, spoon, milk and a box of cereal in front of me before excusing himself to go to the bathroom with a glint in his eye that I couldn't quite decipher. I looked over at the empty bowl in front of Tekirai. Must've had the same thing.. I poured the milk in first and then cereal. I began to munch on the cereal for a few seconds before glancing over at Tekirai scrolling through his smartphone.

"Nice phone," I said with a full mouth. silence occupied it for a few moments before he put his phone away and replied.

"Nice quirk"

I shot him a confused look and he smirked.

"You pour your milk before adding the cereal."

I blushed, realizing the truth in his words.

"Oh, yeah.. I remember my mom doing it when I was little before she passed. I guess I hold onto her memory with the weirdest things."

Tekirai completely froze, staring at me with wide eyes. I wished at that moment I hadn't brough t up such a serious subject.. but I was just feeling a bit comfortable around him I guess. I looked around at him again to see him staring off into the distance like he usually does after practice or during school. I wonder what he thinks about.. I was about to boldly ask when he interrupted with a question that would cause me to choke on the spoon of cereal I had just shoved into my mouth gracefully:

"Wanna go for a run?"


	4. Chapter 4

I deeply regret my pride sometimes.

My lungs were on fire and my shins felt like they were going to split in half. I could barely feel my feet, my armpits were soaked in sweat, and my throat felt like sandpaper. Running was not as fun as some of these athletes make it seem. Hell, it was so much worse. I didn't smile the whole way to the school, which was a couple of miles away from my house, nor did I even say a word, which was easy considering my running partner wasn't the talkative type anyway. We ran at half his pace, which was a lot more than my pace: walking. He strode along, patiently slowing down occasionally for my benefit. Each time he did, I felt myself attempt to run faster, more impressively. _Why couldn't I just tell him that I don't run?_

"Don't overdo it," he'd say, smirking as we would near a street or bend, and he would slow down to match my speed momentarily.

"Hmph!" was always my response.

We ran and ran, always towards the sun, which did wonders to my limited line of vision, and I found myself running behind Tekirai more than I ran next to him to block out the glaring sun rays. When we finally slowed down, I felt my breathing become a bit more regular, but my heart still kept an unsteadily fast rhythm. Tekirai stopped effortlessly in front of me, causing me to bump into his broad back and tumble not-so-gracefully to the ground. I landed on my backside with an eloquent "oof!" Tekirai took a swig from his water bottle and looked down at me heaving and huffing on the edge of our school's grounds. His signature smirk uncovered itself as he lend out his hand to me. I stared at it for a moment. _How many times have I wanted this?!_ I clasped onto it while one hand while the other pushed to help me up.

"Why are we here?" I asked once I was up on my feet, brushing the dirt off of my butt. I lowered myself again to retie my Puma running shoes Ageha bought for me last Christmas; I had never had a chance to use them untill now and they squeezed my feet, having not been broken in just yet. Tekirai shrugged and turned away from me, gulping down water as he walked towards the other side of the field in front of us. I followed behind him as he walked, looking around at the numerous sports fields I never realized our school had; there were two soccer fields, the largest football field I had ever seen, and severeal tennis courts and baseball fields. _Figures. We are very sports-centric._ The sun was rising in the direction we walked so once again my vision was reduced to the silhouette of Tekirai's body to follow.

When he stopped, I almost bumped into his back again, but side-stepped at the last moment. A few more seconds passed before my eyes could adjust to the rising sun and look downwards. We were standing at the edge of a steep cliff; once I realized that, I stepped back a bit so that my clumsiness wouldn't be the literal death of me. Tekirai, however, stood at the very edge as he he was standing on someone' doorstep, awaiting the homeowner to open the door and invite him in. He lifted his chin so the wind blow his jet black tresses up and over his half-lidded eyes. I turned away from him after watching for a few moments. Don't need him knowing that I like him, now don't we?

I shook my head and glanced downward at the uniform patches of overturned grass in front of decorated stones at the foot of the cliff.

"Woah!" I shouted as I realized what I was looking at. I looked up at Tekirai, worried for a moment that I startled him and caused him to lose his footing. But he was still standing there, frozen in the wind, except his head was cast downward, looking where I was looking.

"This is next to the school?" I asked the silent Tekirai, and he glanced over at me expressionless. "Creepy!"

"Peaceful," he murmured, and I glanced his way. I felt my cheeks redden. _Damn it, Toneriko! Be more eloquent next time! _A few seconds of silence had me squirming nervously, partially because of our location and my stupidity.

"Yeah.. pretty in a weird way."

"Mhm," he hummed with a softened expression and crossed his leg over the other while putting his hands in the pockets of his shorts. I mimicked his motions, shoving my hands into the band of my favorite blue basketball shorts. We stood there for I don't know how long; I had left my cell phone at the house along with my usual MP3 and keys. He had said I wouldn't need them, and I believed that. Staring down at this small and familiar cemetery, I especially believed that.

* * *

"Where have you been? We're about to leave for the game!" Mizuto asked, hands on his hips as I reentered his room, sweaty and tired. He was standing over his sleeping bag, which was folded up neatly into a bundle on the ground. I could tell he was freshly showered, since he had on a change of clothes and the room unmistakably smelled like floral body scrub, his favorite.

"At school."

"Why in the world would you be at school on a Saturday morning?" His voice was so incredulous and high-pitched, my ear almost broke in half. I was sure my face held a devilish grin on it by the way he stared at me, begging for an answer.

"I was with Tekirai-"

"LIAR!"-his voice sounded harsh yet completely softened once I shot him an annoyed look-"What were you doing?" He said, face light up whenever he's delving into juicy gossip... or whatever anyone wants to share about anything.

"On a run," I replied dryly, trying my best to mask my inner giddy school girl as I plopped down on my own sleeping bag which was still sprawled out across the floor in its messy glory. I pulled out my phone from under the blue body pillow I had brought over, and leaned back onto it.

"You don't run," he said, accusingly.

"But I just did," I replied, flipping open my phone and staring at the newest entry in the contacts list: Tekirai. He had given his cell phone number to me when we started running back to Mizuto's house from standing in front of the cemetery for over an hour. I almost hit a tree, a pole, and a fire hydrate trying to dialing in the number while running at my best pace.

"You are TOTALLY telling me EVERYTHING later!" Mizuto squeaked, and a grin appeared on my own face as I thought about my time with the mysterious Tekirai, watching nothingness at the edge of our school grounds.

"But now we have to go," He said, throwing a duffle bag at my feet. I quickly withdrew my feet before they were crushed by the manager's bag he threw, and stood up lazily.

"Shit!" I hissed, and he grinned at me.

"That's what you get for messing around with Tekirai all morning.. Now get dressed!"

I obeyed, quickly showering with my own soap, since I did not want to walk around smelling like flowerbeds and summer flings, and changing into my usual manager's outfit. I grabbed all my things and the manager's bag and carried everything to Aralag's car. Mizuto had made him promise to take me home after the game, and I was more than happy to benefit from that exchange. My legs felt like they were about to give out, and if I would be running aroound like I usualy do during games, then I'd have no energy to walk home with all my stuff.

Once I was done packing my things in the trunk, I hopped into the back of his car, and we drove to school silently. Mizuto kept shooting me knowing looks and dropping hints about this morning. I kept shutting him down while Aralag watched us with interest.

"So how was your run, Toneriko-kun?" Arlag asked, slowing down for a stop sign. Mizuto grinned to himself and turned to look at me face on. I hid myself behind Aralag's headrest and shot him my best 'Will you stop it?!' look I could muster before replying that it was good.

"Where did you two go?" Mizuto asked, and I huffed. Aralag's eyebrow shot up, and I sighed, not wanting him to get involved with his brother's antics.

"We ran to school and back... We watched the sunrise on the other side of the football field, near the cliff."

At that news, Aralag quickly looked at me through the rear view mirror with an expression I did not know how to read. He quickly increaed the speed at which we were going, and I decided to buckle myself in at the sudden change. Mizuto listened, not noticing the change in posture of his elder brother.

"Cliff? What cliff?" He asked, watching as we sped past the other cars.

"You know the side of the football field behind the visiting team's bleachers?" He nodded. "Well there is a steep cliff behind there. We should check it out after the game; there is even a cemetery there!"

Mizuto oohed at the word cemetery and shivered, complaining that it must be bad luck to have a graveyard next to our sport's field.

"Our football team always loses home games!" He explained, even more sure of his logic. I chuckled and rolled my eyes at him. Aralag, on the other hand, drove silently as if he had something to say but couldn't find the words.

"We're here," he finally said evenly, jumping out of the car before it fully stopped. Mizuto shrugged off the weird behavior and hopped out too while I hesitantly exited the vehicle, and retrieved the duffle bag from the trunk of the car. The two of us walked into the gymnasium while Aralag practically sprinted inside. When we entered, I was taken a back by how little support the visiting team had on their side of the court. Mizuto leaned over to me and whispered that we were sure to win as we approached the rest of the team. I nodded and smiled at his words, watching the players practice a bit. Tekirai was telling another player something about his dribbling when I saw Aralag approach and interrupt the conversation; he whispered something into Tekirai's ear and the raven shrugged nonchalantly while darting his eyes away from his bestfriend. I was about to comment on their behavior when I felt a ball ram into me from the side.

"Ooh! What the f-"

"Do something useful and fill up my water bottles, Pup," Sakura said then laughed as he rubbed my ribs.

"Fuck off," I spat, and he stopped laughing abruptly. Before he could get another word out, Mizuto interjected himself between us and took the bottle from Sakura's clenched fists.

"I'll do it!" He said, worry in his tone; he shove one bottle under his arm and grabbed my wrist with his free hand. He dragged me away from the fuming red-head. I quickly looked back and stuck out my tongue at the annoying Sakura while he stuck his finger up at me and continued to practice. Before I was pulled into the locker room, I glanced over to Tekirai who shoved a ball harshly into Sakura's chest and gestured for him to improve his lay-ups instead of harassing the managers. I smiled.

After the game, the team quick huddled up in the locker room in a victory hug. Mizuto and I looked on from the outside, exhausted from running back and forth throughout the game for water and other things they needed mid-game. Mizuto was half-asleep on my shoulder while we sat on the manager's bench across the room from the team. Just when they were about to break apart, Tekirai lifted his head and signaled towards us. Then all the players started to clap and holler at us, thanking us for the win. At the noise, Mizuto shot up, fully awake and shocked. I nodded my head to the team modestly, but couldn't help to smile widenly as I looked over at Tekirai, clapping his hands with a genuine smirk on his face.

* * *

True to his word, Mizuto had Aralag drive me home after the game, and Ageha was there, back from his conference. I ate dinner, which was some fancy Mexican food that Ageha shouldn't have cooked, in my room, stripped down to my boxers, and passed out. The moment I felt a hand on my shoulder the next morning, shaking me to consciousness, I groaned in frustration.

"Ageha-sama, two more minutes!" I said, tossing the blanket over my head and huddling in the corner of my full sized bed with my head leaning against the wall.

"I'm not Ageha."

A smooth tone shocked me out of my restful state and into a sitting position, staring star-struck into crimson eyes. They stared back at me with a bored instensity that could only belong to one person in this world. My mouth instantly felt dry as I searched for words, kicking the blanket off my body and throwing my feet to the floor.

"Tekirai-sempai!" I exhaled. "How did- Why are you- What is-"

"Your otousama let me in."

He walked over to my desk and sat down in my old office chair Ageha bought in a yard sale, surveying the items on my desk. Remind me to kill my father! If I could've been blushing anymore because I left some food sitting there from the night before, I would, but I couldn't; I was already too aware that I sleep in my boxers when I'm at home, and that the coldness I was feeling against my thighs was the draft in the room against my bare skin. Bare. skin.

I jumped up and quickly, if not clumsily, stumbled over to my closet and hid behind the door. His red eyes watched my movements with slight amusement. He twirled my favorite Pokemon eraser between his fingers and set it back down on top of my Macbook Air.

"Get dressed."

"Why? Where are we going?" I asked with an annoyed tone although I swiftly obeyed and began to dress myself in a t-shirt and jeans. He shot me a disbelieving look as I stepped out from the closet. I looked him over and saw he was in an all black outfit: black basketball shorts and a black sports shirt with shiny black sneakers on his feet.

"On our run."

_Scratch the jeans._ I felt my face scrunch up in a confused expression. _I had told Mizuto that I run with Tekirai, but that was only once! I can't keep up with this.. My body is still sore from yesterday._

"B-but, Sempai, we did that yesterday."

"Aralag is playing sick again," He stuck his his hands in his pockets and looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"Oh.. I hope he feels better," I murmured as I reentered the closet and changed. Tekrai chuckled at that and pulled out his cell phone again, scrolling through something. I wonder if he noticed me watching him as I changed into a black t-shirt and red shorts and fixed my hair in the mirror behind the door. When I was done, we walked out of my room and down the hall to the kitchen because Tekirai wanted to refill his water bottle. When we entered the kitchen, Ageha inspected us thoroughly from the kitchen table where he was reading the newspaper. I shot him an annoyed look that said 'don't embarrass me' and filled Tekirai's bottle from the fridge.

As we left, Tekirai politely said goodbye to Ageha and the older man looked like he was going to vomit in response. I decided to avoid saying anything to him in front of our guest, but I made a mental note to confront him on his rude manners later. Once outside, we started at a slower pace than before. Tekirai explained that starting off fast like we did last time is bad for the heart.

"If it is bad, than why did we do it yesterday?" I manged to said aloud as I struggled to keep up even at the slower pace. Tekirai replied that he wasn't in a good mood yesterday. Hm.. He could've fooled me! It seemed that he was his oridinary quiet self, but then again, what do I know of Tekirai other than he is good at everything he does, is close to the other basketball players, specifically Aralag and Sakura, and doesn't care to talk much? Oh, yeah... Nothing. Better yet, I'm not even sure we're friends... Friends go on runs together, right? But I'm the replacement for Aralag. Ugh. The dilemma filled my mind the whole run there and back. Tekirai left me in front of my house after saying that he'd be there early tomorrow morning, waiting for me to run with him again. I felt all my inner organs dong flips as I waved goodbye and walked into my house.

When I returned back to my room, I noticed that my bed was made and there were two enormous tomes on my desk marked for standardized testing studying. I had a nerve to throw them out the window, but I decided against it. I'm partially accustomed to this insane academic training. This, however, was taking a step too far. I'm not even of age to be taking these tests for university so why is he making me study for them? A note adorned the top of the two books. I walked over to the desk and opened the piece of folded paper and read:

_2 hours daily._

_Office._

_Love you._

_Otousan_

"Did you know there is a graveyard next to the school, Otousan?" I asked my father, walking into his office with a bowl of instant ramen in my hands. I sat down in one of the chairs opposite his desk and kicked my feet up onto the desk. Two weird things happened at that moment: Ageha immediately tensed at the mention of the cemetery and he didn't shoo my feet off his desk. He simply sat there, staring at me as if he was looking at a ghost. I slurped up some noodles into my mouth before calling his name. He then recovered, turning away from me and looking out e window behind the desk. I watched him, my curiosity now peaked.

"Tekirai takes me to it on our runs in the morning," I mentioned, and he inhaled sharply.

"I'm thinking you should study in the morning before practice."

"Dad, are you not listening? That's when we run."

Ageha scowled deeply.

"I don't care. We're starting your studying sessions tomorrow morning."

I dropped my bowl of ramen on the desk with a loud thud. I clenched with my hands the edge of the desk as I pulled my feet down and leaned against it. Ageha turned back to look at me defiantly for a moment before redirecting his actions back down to the notepad he was scribbling in before I walked in.

"Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He looked up at me with a forced and fake bored look.

"Because you're being ridiculous; I can study at night."

"No. In the morning."

"But what about my runs?"

"Cancel'em; why do you want to go so badly? What is he brainwashing you with?" He spat, and my jaw hang open.

"What are you talking about? He is captain of the team, I'm manager: It's perfectly natural that we're friends!"

I stood to my feet and snatched up my bowl again, spilling some broth on his desk. Ageha ignored that and glared up at me with searching eyes. I coudl tell he was trying to see if I was lying or not. Why would I lie and what the hell is up with him and brainwashing? I turned to the doorway but stopped at his next statement. His next words revealed his true intentions, and they would haunt me for the rest of the night, wondering why he said them.

"I don't like this new friendship."

"Too bad, Dad," I hissed, slamming the office door behind me and walking up to my bedroom with the crushed bowl of ramen in my hand.

* * *

I explained my predicament to Mizuto the next day at the end of practice and how I had to awkwardlly text Tekirai and tell him I couldn't run iwth him anymore. Mizuto and I were throwing the basketballs back into the bag while Aralag and Tekirai stayed behind to discuss strategy for the next day on Wednesday; Sakura played HORSE with himself on the same side of the court. We whispered to each other lowly so that they wouldn't hear, and Mizuto was as confused as I was.

"Did Tekirai do something to the principal?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"I haven't heard anything like that; I didn't even know he knew Tekirai existed!"

"Hmmm... We'll have to wait and see now huh? I'll do some research."

Mizuto rubbed his chin and pondered for a few seconds while I rallied up the rest of the balls and ties up the bag. The last ball was being used by Sakura and I didn't have the energy to ask for it back The onyl research Mizuto conducts in gossip so I shook my head and laughed at him. I decided last second to shoot some hoops myself so I untied the bag and retrieved another ball. He eyed the ball and rolled his eyes, knowing he'd be fetching it for me if it bounced too far away from my side of the court.

"You should invite Tekirai to sophomore semi! That would rally piss him off!" Mizuto said suddenly and excitingly, and I thrust the ball into his chest with as much force as I could. He barely caught the ball and coughed as the impact knocked the wind out of him. He has been going on about the damn upcoming dance for the last month to anyone and everyone who will listen. My classmates have even been coming up to me, saying that they heard that he and I were going to crash; What are freshmen going at a sophomore dance anyway!

"Fuck no! Are you crazy?"

"Ouch!"

"I'm not even a sophomore!"

"Sooooooooooooooooooo?"

"So? SO? I'm not going to-"

"Aw, the two little lovebird are fighting!" Sakura sing-sang, dribbling the ball over to us with the two taller boys behind him.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in class?" Aralag asked, taking a clip board from Tekirai and looking down at it for a second. Mizuto nudged me as Tekirai approached the group and shot me a blank look, his way of saying hello I guess. Mizuto nudged me again harder when I nodded to Tekirai and looked away, blushing.

"Are you going to sophomore semi?" I asked timidly, and instantly regretted it. The three upperclassmen looked at each other and back at us all with different reactions; Sakura started cackling, Aralag was amused, and Tekirai stared at us with one eyebrow raised.

"Hm.. Seniors usually crash, don't they, Tekirai-kun?" Aralag purred, looking up from his notes with a knowing grin. Tekirai's expression remained neutral as he nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you three should totally come!" Mizuto cheerily offered, and I glared at him. I definitely did not want Sakura there to harass me and possibly ruin the night. I glanced back over to Tekirai, who was smirking to himself, staring off in the distance.

"How are you two frosh going?" Sakura asked, casually lifting the ball into the hoop from the side in a graceful lay-up. I alwasy hated when upperclassmen called the freshman 'frosh'; it was just plain obnoxious.

"We're crashing, too." I replied, boldly. Aralag and Tekrai looked at each other, even more amused.

"Oh, I remember my days as an underclassmen," Aralag mused aloud, "I would like to revisit those days."

Hope reared its beautiful head at those words. I looked at Tekirai now, trying to hide my building excitement as I knew the probability of him even considering it was increased substantially by his best friend's attendance.

"Sounds fun," he muttered, looking back at Sakura who was dribbling the ball between his short legs steadily. The red-head did not look up at he stubbornly said that he'd go if they were going. He suddenly shouted "think fast!" and threw the ball at my head. I swiveled on my heels, catching the ball centimeters from my face, and instinctively shot it up towards the basket hoop; It hit the backboard with a thud and fell through the hoop.

"So we'll see you there, Buddies?" I asked, breathless for a moment.

"See you in Math, Bud," Tekirai replied, smirking so deeply that anyone would mistake it for a smile; Mizuto couldn't help but gasp aloud and grip my arm. Aralag smiled broadly and turned to walk towards the locker room as the first bell chimed, signaling 5 minutes before 1st period class. Sakura eyed us aggressively before following the tall blonde, and Tekirai lingered behind for a few seconds before following as well. When we were alone in the middle of the court, Mizuto bounced up in down and sighed dramatically.

"Oh my god," he whispered, "you did it."

"Did what?"

"Asked him out on a date!"

"No I didn't. Shut up!" I snatched my arm out of his death-grip and shuffled over to the ball that I left behind on the court from Sakura's attack. I went to shoot it against the backboard when Mizuto shouted that if I missed, he'd dressed me for the dance. I huffed and threw the ball, but at the last second, Mizuto ran over to me and poked my forehead, throwing me balance off and sending the ball over into the bleachers. He triumphantly skipped to class, yelling that he'd be at my house 6pm sharp, an hour before the dance started to pick apart my wardrobe.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey ya'll! Back again with another update. You're probably craving some Tekiriko action and I'm here to get it... a bit. teehee. I'd appreciate some reviews too!

* * *

"Riko!" Mizuto called from the locker room doorway. I dribbled the basketball around my body and pushed it up to the backboard. It bounced off and fell through the hoop. I continued to practice my dribbling a bit more before I replied.

"I'm staying," I announced, not taking my eyes off the hoop as I threw the ball towards it; it bounced off and I cursed, getting the ball from under the player's bench where it rolled.

"Fine," he muttered, "Bye."

I mumbled a goodbye in response and dribbled down the court to shoot into the other hoop. I was practicing my three-pointers when I felt it. Someone else was in the room watching me. Hoping it was just a player on the team running late, I ignored it and threw the ball at the backboard from the free-throw line. The ball made its way in, and as I turned to pick up the ball before it rolled away any farther, I looked up at the one audience member who didn't seem to want to leave even after a few minutes of me practicing. He smirked when our eyes connected, leaning back against the railing behind the player's bench. His right foot rested on the bench as he watched me pick up the ball from the ground. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers through his hair as he nodded to me, his bright eyes enamoring, while his icy water bottle dangled from the other hand. He kicked himself off of the railing smoothly.

"So you play 'ball?" He asked, walking over to me calmly.

"It's a hobby," I said, casually. If Mizuto were here, he would've definitely told Tekirai how obsessed I was with the game. I thanked the universe for him leaving earlier. Tekirai stopped in front of me and took the ball from my hold; he dribbled it for a few seconds before jumped up and shooting it into the basket. Swoosh!

"Doesn't seem like it's just a hobby," He spoke spoftly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well... I-I bet you I could give you a run for your money," I boasted uneasily.

"Really?" He was slightly amused, I could tell. A little short freshman like me challenging the captain of the team to a game? Ha. Probably really amusing.

"Yeah, and how about for every point one makes, the other has to answer a question," I suggested, walking over to ball. I propelled the ball towards him, and he caught it fluidly with one hand.

"Hmmm," He hummed for a single and then nodded, smiling slyly. Suddenly he jumped up and made another perfect shot.

"Hey!" I shouted, grabbing the ball from under the hoop, "Could you give a little warning next time?"

"Nope and I pass on my question."

I shrugged, and threw the ball at him; he returned it and crouched in his defense stance. I dribbled the ball down the court, and I faked a move, which he caught effortlessly and poking my ribs playfully. Damn it. I then shot a nice three pointer while he waited for me lazily under the basket. His eyebrows raised.

"What's your favorite color?" I asked, breathless.

He eyed me with mirth and picked up the ball, smacking it between his hands.

"Blue."

"Mines red," I said, grinning. He sped past me, dribbling with the speed of light and made a flawless lay-up. He passed on his turn again, and I complained as I got hold of the ball and made my way to my side of the court.

"There is no fun if you don't participate!"

I dribbled and swerved around him, making for another basket when he jumped up and smacked it out of my hands. He then ran over to the ball, retrieved it, and ran down the court where he scored another easy lay-up.

"Are you and Mizuto..." He began but trained off. I jogged over to him and snatched the ball out of his hand. "...intimate?"

I froze for a moment, and after I had gotten over the shock of him asking that question, I laughed. I guffawed so intensely that I dropped the ball of out my hands and hunched over, laughing.

"No! Why does everyone think that?"

He shrugged, uninterested suddenly, and we continued to play, successfully preventing each other from making any baskets. After a good 15 minutes of a stalemate, he called for a quick timeout just as I was about to make a well-deserved basket.

"Oh, come on!" I said, bouncing the ball off the wall. Then I turned around and stuck my tongue out at him. He huffed, tugging his shirts over his shoulders and tossing it to the side. I watched as he undressed, taking off his undershirt next, and when he looked up at me, I quickly turned my attention away from his sweaty and toned chest. His whole upper body was muscled and lean; the sweat glistened off his chest and back like a newly polished car. I had turned my head, but continued looking while he kicked his clothes off the court.

"Ready?" He said huskily, and I nodded, thrusting the ball at him again. The sound of the ball bouncing against the court floor was the only distraction I had to keep my eyes off his bare body. I wasn't too successful, staring as he dribbled past me and made a basket. He smirked as I surveyed every naked muscle and curvature before looking away again. I demanded the ball and the real game began, with us chasing each other up and down the court, snatching and hitting the ball when we could. His defense was just as good as his offense, and since I always played by myself, I wasn't used to having someone in such close promxit to me while I dribbled, especially not someone's bare and sweaty upper body. His hot chest brushed against my back as I backed up towards the hoop, and I lost concentration, accidentally dropping the ball on my foot. He swooped in immediately, taking the ball and shooting it from the middle of the court.

The more we played, the more aggressive we both become. I began to push back against his tough defense, and he didn't go easy on me when he had the ball either. We played some more until I called it quits, worn out and beaten up. When we finished, he had scored 40 points while I was at 32. I stared at him, feeling more defeated than I have in a long time and ever in basketball. He had thrown the ball into the bleachers and retrieved his water bottle from the floor.

"You have talent," He said, and then gulped down some water from his bottle. I walked over to where he was standing by the side lines; He then handed the bottle to me, and I accepted graciously.

"Thirsty?"

"Thanks," I said, pressing my lips to the neck of the bottle and throwing it up so that the water flowed between my lips. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and held it there to hide my blushing expression. _Toneriko, you're sharing a water bottle. This is such an indirect kiss._

"Would you prefer something else?" He asked with slight amusement in his voice. I quickly shook myself from my thoughts and looked up at him. Tekirai was standing much closer than I had expected; I could feel the heat radiating off his tall body

"What?" I asked, peering at his half-lidded eyes as he took back the water bottle and drank the rest of the liquid inside.

"You said it was an indirect kiss."

"Shit," I muttered; I felt my face redden even deeper and my stomach drop. _Oh my god! You idiot! Ugh!_

My cell phone went off, and I ran over to my things next to his; I fished through my belongings until I got it, but it had stopped ringing. I flipped it open and read the message on the screen. "Where r u?" - Otousan

"I gotta go... My father texted me." I sighed, pulling my bag over my neck and chest. Tekirai nodded and smirked as he picked up his discarded clothes off the floor and pulled on some sweatpants I didn't know he threw down next to them. He stuffed the shirts and water bottle into a small duffle bag and hoisted it over his shoulders. We walked out of the gymnasium side-by-side in silence; Tekirai kept himself shirtless, which I appreciated, while I slipped into a sweatshirt as soon as my skin felt the night air. I checked my watch and noticed we stayed way past the end of practice and dinner. I started to walk west when I didn't feel his presence anymore. I turned around and noticed he was standing still, staring up to the sky.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked, approaching him and looking up at the bright stars in the sky; they were so beautiful that we stood there for a moment, staring.

"Let's go."

"I live on the other side of town," He replied, glancing down at me.

"Where?"

"Near the big dog park."

"Oh," I said, disappointed we don't live closer that we could walk together. "See you then."

The farther I walked away, the more I felt compelled to stay, but I kept telling myself just to walk away; it wasn't like he wasn't already occupied with the sky. I already had spent all evening with the guy, no need to jinx it by overwhelming him. I sighed to myself and slowed down my speed. I was almost at the edge of the school grounds when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and turned around to be greeted by a pair of crimson eyes. Tekirai smiled down at my response to his touch.

"Red," he said.

"What did you say, Sempai?"

"I'm wearing red tomorrow night."

* * *

"You look delicious!" Mizuto cheered as I walked out of my closet with my hands lifted stiffly. He sat on my bed cross-legged, clapping his hands hysterically. I shook my head and turned to face the full body mirror on the inside of my closet door. My best friend dressed me in a sleek black dress shirt with a maroon tie; the pants were also black and a bit more tight that I'm accustomed to but my shoes matched the tie and fit comfortably for fancy shoes.

"I can't wear this," I said, blushing at the image of myself in the mirror.

Mizuto looked at me as if I grew another head and jumped off my bed. He landed right next to me and squeezed my shoulders with fever.

"Why not?"

"Because sempai is wearing red," I mumbled, but his superpowered ears picked it up as if I shouted it.

"How do you know that?" He asked, massaging my shoulders, and I eyed him through the mirror.

"He told me."

"He told you? When?" Mizuto asked, and his eyes grew a large as saucers as he leaned closer to me. I inched backwards a bit.

"After practice. We stayed behind and played some one-on-one-"

"Oh my god!" Mizuto exclaimed, holding his hand up to his grinning lips.

"What?"

"This is totally a date!" He squealed, shaking me back and forth within his grip.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat? How?" I asked, recovering from his attack.

"Dates wear matching colors. DUH!"

He quickly dressed himself in a matching outfit to mine but in green; he slipped into some leathery-snake-looking shoes, and I couldn't help but laugh at his choice. It was ridiculous how he is getting all fancied up yet has no date himself. He lightly slapped me upside the head and rushed down the stairs; I followed him down and out the door where his elder brother waited by his car, wiping down the windshield. Aralag wore a black blazer and a white pair of pants with shiny black shoes. He was looking quite relaxed since he was crashing an underclassmen affair.

"What is it? Christmas?" Aralag teased when we appeared in front of him and his car.

"Oh, shut up, Aniki."

The drive over was very talkative, and by talkative, I mean Miuzto chatting Aralag's ears off. We hopped out of the car and walked across the parking lot and towards the gymnasium where the dance was being held. The music boomed and blasted from inside the building so intensely that I could feel the base of the beats in the ground as I stepped out of the small car.

"Well have fun and try not to get caught making out somewhere!" Aralag chuckled as he shut the driver's side door.

I laughed aloud and followed the two blondes into the crowded gymnasium, shaking my head as Mizuto tried to punch Aralag for his comment. Although the dance was intended for 10th graders, other students obviously interrupted the party. As we weaved through the crowd of dancing students, I couldn't count on two hands how many upperclassmen I spot blending in. We approached Sakura, who was wearing a dark green dress shirt and pants. I looked between him and Mizuto, was was also wearing a forest green shirt and scowled. _What happened to dates wearing matching colors, again?_

"What are you wearing, Pup?" Sakura asked impolitely, and I rolled my eyes.

"He doesn't believe me when I told him he looks delicious," Mizuto purred, and I nudged him harshly.

"He looks like a tomato," Sakura said bitterly, shooting Mizuto a bored expression without looking at me. Ignoring him, I looked around for a certain raven, but he was nowhere to be seen. I glanced back at Aralag who was merrily sipping on some juice and chatting with another basketball player next to Sakura, who was eyeing Mizuto quite suspiciously. I stepped in between the two and called to the tall blonde.

"Aralag-sempai, where is Tekirai?"

"Hmmm.. No idea."

I sighed and stuffed my hands into my pant pockets, swaying to the music for bit before glancing back at my best friend who was also sipping on his own cup of punch. He winked at me and began to dance to the music. I rolled my eyes at him and almost began to look away when Sakura approached him from behind and grabbed his waist, pulling Mizuto into his chest. I stepped forward, ready to seperate the two and punch Sakura's lights out when Aralag reached forward and grabbed my shoulder, shaking his head at me before letting go. I looked at him with wide eyes and watched as Mizuto enthusiastically grinded with Sakura, who held him against his croutch. I gagged at the sight and turned away, holding my hand over my mouth. Moving through the crowd, I exited the gym and went outside, where the wind blew steadily to the east. I walked past the football field and to my new favorite spot.

I stopped mid-step when I saw him standing at the edge of the cliff, staring out to the fields below; he was standing dangerously close, but his whole stance was cool and calm as if he were lying in bed dreaming. I drew closer and stopped next to him, careful not to break the trance he was in.

"Whatcha doin' out here?" I said lowly, placing my hand hesitantly on his shoulder after a few minutes in silence.

He turned his head toward me slowly, and I realized how red his eyes were; they were bright and unrelenting, almost pained and isolated. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out until a few moments later, when I could finally put together some words.

"Tekirai-sempai, are you okay?"

He stared at me for what seemed like a minute before turning away abruptly; he smoothed his wrinkleless red shirt with his hands and thrust them into his pants pockets. His jet black bangs lifted with the passing breeze and settled on his forehead as it died away.

"You shouldn't be here," he breathed.

I asked him why I shouldn't be there... with him, and he sighed deeply. I glanced downwards at the lonely graveyard; it was dark yet a few stones shone in the moonlight. I could even see the patches of flowers plated by some graves and bouquets left behind for loved ones long gone. I allowed my eyes to wander back to his face, where I traced every line mentally. He turned to me and stepped closer, pering down at me expressionlessly. He opened his mouth to say something; Then I finally smelled the alcohol on his breathe. _When did Tekirai drink?_

"Sempai, have you been drinking?"

"You know the answer to that question," he spat dryly.

"I just.. I didn't know that you drink."

"I don't... usually," He confessed, lips curled downwards. He started walked past me.

"Why are you drinking now-"

"Let's get back," He said, nudging me with his elbow as he passed me slowly. We approached the gymnasium unhurriedly and silently. When we were just around the corner to the front, I stopped walking and grabbed his wrist. He eyed the hand engulfing his pale wrist and looked up at me expectantly.

"Sempai, just tell me what's going on."

"Just-" He started, but stopped. Stepping much closer, he hovered over me, fingers digging into the skin of my arm as he clasped his free arm to my elbow; he eyes were bloodshot red where they should be white, and his breaths wheeze out raggedly. I peered up at him and stepped backwards, but he followed closely, pursuing me until my back hit the cold brick of the building. He lowered his head until his forehead touched mine and leaned against me, breathing slowly and closing his eyes. We stayed that way for a little bit, and I watched him until he lowered his lips onto mine. _OH my god, oh my god, oh my god!_

His lips were cold and chapped, dry and slightly cracked; his breathe smelled like acid, choking my airways as I foolishly inhaled using my mouth. When the alcoholic fumes entered my mouth, I coughed into his, and he pulled back a few inches to allow me room to breathe, his eyes half-lidded and glazed over. Once I recovered, he covered my mouth with his again, pressing me almost off my feet and up against the brick wall of the gymnasium, forcing his toned body against my smaller frame. He forced his tongue between my lips and as once as I opened my mouth willingly, we both relaxed into the rough embrace. His nails gradually pinched into my arm and a moaned, partially in pain, as he forcefully held me still. I tightned my grip on his thin wrist, hoping to keep him close. He pulled back once again, allowing me time to catch my breathe before tilting his head and bringing his mouth to my temple.

"Please don't hate me," he whispered close to my ear, and I shivered and looked to the side, not wanting to be captured in his intense gaze.

"Tekirai-sem-"

"Don't use honorfics... not with me... not now," He hissed tensely.

"Tekirai," I said, and he relaxed, pullng back again and looking at my face.

"Mhm?"

"I could never hate you-"

"Riko!" Mizuto's sudden voice cut me off as he rounded the corner of the building, and I froze while Tekirai leaned in again, ready to claim his prey. Mizuto paused for a moment a few feet away from the scene, witnessing me in the arms of Tekirai, whose lips were glued to mine a few seconds ago. I noticed, in our getting caught, that I couldn't hear any music coming from the gym not saw any students loitering around the entrance.

"What?" Both Tekirai and I called out harshly, turning our heads to the intrusion, and Mizuto winced.

"The principal is looking for you," he said, "He shut down the dance."

"WHAT?" I said quite loudly and Tekirai sighed, dropping his hold on me.

"He ended-"

"Where is he?" I asked, feeling the anger boiling inside me as I let go of Tekirai's wrist.

"Inside," Misuto replied, pointing with his thumb to the building I was sprawled against. I pushed myself off the wall and away from Tekirai's drunken and intoxicating embrace. A sick feeling in my stomach told me that I wouldn't like what was going on inside.

"AGEHA!" I screamed when I entered the gymnasium to see the lights on and the room empty except a few chaperones and teachers wandering around picking up cups. and decorations that had fallen from the walls. Ageha was standing in the middle of the room, directing the clean-up with short and fierce demands. Aralag stood by the door with a cold expression on his face, and when Mizuto entered with me, he pulled him aside and whispered into his ear. My father's usually joyous eyes were hardened, and his stance was tight and controlled. He turned to me as I walked up to him with my fists clenched.

"Toneriko," he spat my name as if it were venom. "That's Otousan to you."

"What are you doing?"

"Where is he?"

"Where is- What are you talking about?" I asked, and he suddenly glanced past my shoulder and tensed up even more.

"You!" He screamed, pointing his finger.

Ageha's eyes blazed a flaming red as he strode past me and over to Tekirai, who slowly and drunkenly stalked into the room behind me. I watched in shock as his fist connected with an unsuspecting face, and Tekirai's head snapped to the side on impact. He didn't double back with the force but the blood that flew from his mouth signaled to me that it was a powerful attack. Ageha grabbed Tekirai by the collar and raised his fist again to strike.

"DAD!" I shouted, running over to them and putting myself between irate Ageha and Tekirai. I wiggled my hand under Ageha's grip and ripped his hand off of Tekirai's shirt, accidentally popping the buttons off the collar. I cursed under my breathe and pushed a groaning Tekirai a few inches back.

"What the fuc-"

"Toneriko," Ageha heaved deeply, "Get. in. the. car. now."

"Dad-"

"NOW!" He shrieked, and grabbed my by the neck, dragging my past the two blondes standing by the door and away from the bloodied raven. When we reached the car, I was still kicking and screaming for my release. He threw me into the passenger's seat of the already running vehicle and got into his own seat. He pulled out of the parking lot with fury and drove us quickly home while I screamed in his ear for an explanation. He had finally found a calmer tone when he spoke.

"I don't want you seeing him anymore."

"What? Who?"

"HIM!" He screamed, and the car swerved a bit as he glared at me; he clenched the steering wheel harder and made a turn.

"Tekirai? Why?"

"Because I said so!"

"Dad-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD!" He bellowed, and I sank into the car seat, staring as the houses flew past and my heart kept breaking. I knew that there was no reasoning with him in this state, although I had never experienced my foster father this upset in all my years with him. We pulled into the driveway and hopped out of the car equally pissed off. Just as I was about to say something else, he turned to me abruptly and wagged a finger in my face.

"And you are grounded," he said, and with eyes so intense and steely, I just stormed up to my room and slammed the door, locking myself inside.


End file.
